LEGAL AID OF NORTH CAROLINA INC

Advocates for Children's Services (ACS) is a statewide project of Legal Aid of North Carolina that focuses on serving children in the public education system. ACS cases involve: short-term suspension; long-term suspension; expulsion; involuntary transfers to alternative school; denial of enrollment; discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, sex or disability; mistreatment by school security personnel; special education; bullying; and academic failure. In addition to providing direct legal services to clients, ACS provides community education in the form of publications, presentations, trainings, and media outreach, and collaborates with other organizations and individuals working for education justice.. To be eligible for services from ACS, a child must live in a household with an income not more than 187.5 percent of the federal poverty level, or live in foster care. Legal Aid of North Carolina screens all applicants to determine if they meet financial and other requirements for service.

Domestic violence is a pervasive problem among North Carolina’s immigrant population, just as it is among U.S. citizens. Battered immigrants need legal assistance in order to navigate the complex maze of ever-changing immigration laws. The Battered Immigrant Project (BIP), part of our Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative, provides comprehensive and culturally appropriate legal services to immigrant survivors of violence needing assistance with immigration. The BIP represents qualifying applicants across North Carolina in immigration matters including: • Self-Petitions and Petitions to Remove Conditions on Residency under the Violence Against Women Act • U Visas for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking • T Visas for victims of human trafficking • Deportation defense for qualifying victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. BIP attorneys work with domestic violence and immigrant rights advocates across the state to provide them with information about the rights of battered immigrants. Through the DVPI, staff in local LANC offices, as resources allow, represent immigrant survivors in legal matters such as: • Domestic Violence Protective Orders • Family Law issues • Public Benefits • Housing issues.

The Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative (DVPI) is a statewide project of Legal Aid of North Carolina that provides legal assistance to victims of domestic violence. DVPI advocates are trained to keep victims safe and help them become self-sufficient so they can live independently from their abusers. DVPI advocates work closely with community-based programs, agencies and task forces serving victims of domestic violence. The DVPI has existing formal collaborative agreements and referral protocols with more than 60 domestic violence victim services organizations throughout the state, and informal working relationships with at least 20 others. The DVPI also partners with the University of North Carolina School of Law by training and supervising law students in its Domestic Violence Clinic. Legal Aid of North Carolina receives funding for domestic violence work from a Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant to provide emergency-only services, such as obtaining and enforcing protection orders. LANC also receives funding for domestic violence work from the State of North Carolina. The DVPI also operates the Battered Immigrant Project, which provides comprehensive and culturally appropriate legal services to immigrant survivors of violence needing assistance with immigration.

​The Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina works to eliminate housing discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunity for all people in North Carolina through education, outreach, public policy initiatives, advocacy and enforcement.​ The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits the denial of housing to a person based on the person’s membership in one or more of the classes protected under the Act. The protected classes are race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability. In addition, North Carolina law prohibits discrimination in the siting of affordable housing. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits the denial of housing to a person based on the person’s membership in one or more of the classes protected under the Act. The protected classes are race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability. In addition, North Carolina law prohibits discrimination in the siting of affordable housing.

The Farmworker Unit (FWU) is a statewide project that serves migrant farmworkers. Although farmworkers do very hard work and although without their labor we would not have the abundant food we do, they often struggle just to earn enough to feed and clothe their families. North Carolina has the 5th or 6th largest population of farmworkers in the United States and the largest number of farmworkers who come to the United States on temporary visas to do farmwork. FWU seeks to increase the level of socioeconomic integration of migrant farm workers to ensure full participation in society. We work toward this goal by protecting and enforcing the employment and civil rights of migrant workers and by protecting and enforcing the contractual and statutory obligations under H2-A worker contracts and other legal rights of H-2A workers. Our hope is to ensure that migrant workers are afforded equal opportunity to live and work safely, and in accordance with federal, state and international law.

The Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Project, known as the MFP, is a statewide project of Legal Aid of North Carolina that strives to keep working poor and working families in possession of their homes and home equity. By providing high-quality legal representation in foreclosure actions, the MFP saves homes, preserves credit ratings and strives to make prohibitive the cost of conducting business for unscrupulous brokers and lenders. The MFP also provides community education to increase awareness of home-finance best practices and the dangers of predatory lending. The MFP collaborates with six other legal services organizations to form the Home Defense Project (HDP). The HDP saves homes and reduces foreclosures in North Carolina by securing loan modifications for borrowers and providing high-quality foreclosure-defense work in every county in the state. The HDP is funded in part by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation​. The six other members of the HDP are: Financial Protection Law Center Land Loss Prevention Project Legal Services of Southern Piedmont North Carolina Housing Coalition​ North Carolina Justice Center Pisgah Legal Services

The Senior Law Project provides free civil legal help to North Carolinians who are 60 years of age or older. Priority is given to those with the greatest need. The Senior Law Project helps with wills, powers of attorney, public benefits (Medicaid, food stamps, Supplemental Security Income Program, Social Security Disability Insurance, etc.), abuse and neglect, unemployment compensation, housing (foreclosure, eviction, subsidized housing, repairs, utilities, etc.), consumer issues and wrongful repossession. The Senior Law Project operates our Senior Legal Helpline, a toll-free hotline available for seniors across the state.

​The Child’s Advocate is a project of Legal Aid of North Carolina that provides attorneys to children in highly contentious family court cases. We are appointed by judges in Wake County Family Court to represent children in cases which usually involve one or more of the following: chronic conflict between the parents, neglect, substance abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, continuing litigation, mental illness, or children with special needs. Decisions relating to custody and visitation have a critical impact on the lives of the children we serve. Once appointed by the Court, we are attorneys for our child clients, protecting their interests and ensuring their voices are heard. Attorneys at The Child’s Advocate work with private lawyers and mental health professionals in Wake County to represent every child identified by the Court as needing an independent and zealous advocate. In the majority of our cases, the Child’s Advocate helps the parents to resolve the custody dispute without the need for a trial. This greatly reduces stress on both the child and the parents, and saves the court the time and expense of a custody trial. When a trial is necessary, we give the child a strong and effective voice so that the child’s expressed wishes are considered by the court. We also increase the ability of the court to obtain timely and reliable information about the child, the parties and the facts of the case. This allows the court to make the best decision possible to safeguard the child’s interests.​

The Veterans Law Project is a special, statewide unit of Legal Aid of North Carolina that helps low-income veterans overcome service-related legal barriers that prevent them from living self-sufficiently and seeking economic opportunity. We focus our advocacy on cases that can have a serious impact on a veteran's ability to find work, secure housing and establish economic stability. Areas of practice include: disability compensation, discharge upgrades, pension benefits and VA overpayments. Veterans must be at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines to be eligible for help. We prioritize clients who are homeless or facing homelessness. Facing homelessness can mean: couch surfing, being behind on rent and threatened with eviction, being behind on mortgage payments and facing foreclosure, and more.